Unemployment up slightly

Published: Friday, July 19, 2013 at 08:41 PM.

PANAMA CITY — Unemployment in Bay County ticked up slightly last month, rising from 6.3 percent in May to 6.6 percent in June, according to jobless numbers released Friday.

Still, it was better than the jobless rate a year ago, when unemployment was 8 percent in June 2012.

According to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO), the segments of the local economy that are growing are manufacturing, up about 200 jobs over the past year; logging and construction; and warehousing and transportation, which are up about 100 jobs each.

Areas showing job decreases from a year ago were in professional and business services, which have lost nearly 500 jobs, and leisure and hospitality services, shedding about 400 jobs, according to DEO statistics.

Total employment in the county has shrunk by about 1,600 jobs in the last year, and Bay County continues to lead the state in job loss numbers. Lakeland-Winter Haven is second, with a yearly jobs loss of 600.

In the Gulf Coast Workforce Region, which includes Bay, Franklin and Gulf counties, the past month’s numbers virtually mirror those in Bay County alone.

The unemployment rate in the Gulf Coast region clicked up from 6.3 to 6.5 percent. Those numbers are better than a year ago, when the rate was 8 percent.

PANAMA CITY — Unemployment in Bay County ticked up slightly last month, rising from 6.3 percent in May to 6.6 percent in June, according to jobless numbers released Friday.

Still, it was better than the jobless rate a year ago, when unemployment was 8 percent in June 2012.

According to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO), the segments of the local economy that are growing are manufacturing, up about 200 jobs over the past year; logging and construction; and warehousing and transportation, which are up about 100 jobs each.

Areas showing job decreases from a year ago were in professional and business services, which have lost nearly 500 jobs, and leisure and hospitality services, shedding about 400 jobs, according to DEO statistics.

Total employment in the county has shrunk by about 1,600 jobs in the last year, and Bay County continues to lead the state in job loss numbers. Lakeland-Winter Haven is second, with a yearly jobs loss of 600.

In the Gulf Coast Workforce Region, which includes Bay, Franklin and Gulf counties, the past month’s numbers virtually mirror those in Bay County alone.

The unemployment rate in the Gulf Coast region clicked up from 6.3 to 6.5 percent. Those numbers are better than a year ago, when the rate was 8 percent.

Monroe County in southwest Florida had the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 4.1 percent, followed by Walton County with a 4.2 percent unemployment rate, Okaloosa County with a 5.1 percent rate and Franklin County, with a 5.5 percent unemployment rate.

Officials with the Gulf Coast Workforce Board did not return calls or emails Friday.

“Florida’s June unemployment rate of 7.1 percent will continue to contribute to the long-term trend of decreasing unemployment throughout the state,” Scott said. “The creation of more than 2,000 private-sector jobs last month is further evidence of the state’s continuing economic recovery.”